Chapter 130: Don

Seeing the handsome young man behind Lin Lie, Hamil froze for a moment, then furrowed his brow tightly.

Before arriving at the New York Sanctum, he had received only orders to host the Fuxi Sword Master and had no idea a second person was coming.

The Supreme Sorcerer could never make such a basic mistake—this Chinese youth accompanying the Fuxi Sword Master must be an unwelcome intruder!

Without hesitation, Hamil immediately went on guard, golden sparks flaring from his severed palm.

But before he could act further, the golden sparks vanished, and a familiar, gentle voice came from behind him within the Sanctum, drawing the gaze of everyone at the entrance.

“You’ve worked hard, Sorcerer Hamil.”

A bald woman in a yellow robe stepped out of the Sanctum and smiled at Hamil. “I’ll take over from here.”

Seeing her appear, Hamil quickly calmed, bowed slightly, then turned and entered the New York Sanctum.

Without doubt, the only one who could earn such trust was the current Supreme Sorcerer, Kao Yi!

Judging by this Kao Yi’s appearance, she must be the female version from the movies and the “What If…” animated series.

Though this version of Kao Yi was not as powerful as the white-bearded elder from the comics, her strength was still formidable.

After Hamil departed, Kao Yi turned and looked at Lin Yu with a faint apology. “Sorcerer Hamil has long been on the front lines against dark invasions, even losing an arm in service.”

“Though his actions today were excessive and inappropriate, they were never intentional. I beg your forgiveness.”

Seeing that Kao Yi’s first words upon appearing were an apology to Lin Yu, Lin Lie couldn’t help but blink, feeling a strange yet inevitable sensation rise within him.

Lin Yu smiled, unconcerned. “No need. Such a minor matter hardly warrants your personal apology.”

“It is the proper guest etiquette of Kamar-Taj.”

Kao Yi shook her head, then smiled and bowed slightly to Lin Yu. “On behalf of Earth and Kamar-Taj, I welcome you!”

“...”

At these words, Lin Lie froze, his face filled with surprise.

Lin Yu raised an eyebrow and smiled. “It seems nothing on Earth escapes your eyes, Sorcerer.”

“You flatter me,” Kao Yi laughed, shaking her head. “Your visit was entirely beyond my expectations!”

“To be honest, had you not appeared in person, I would never have known that a great being had descended upon Earth—”

“Cough! Cough!” Lin Yu cut her off with two coughs, steering the topic. “Surely the Supreme Sorcerer doesn’t intend to entertain a guest out here in the open?”

“...”

Kao Yi paused, then understood instantly, smiling and gesturing. “After you.”

Lin Yu nodded in satisfaction, then stepped into the New York Sanctum without hesitation.

Kao Yi and Lin Lie lagged two steps behind; the latter snapped to attention and quickly bowed to Kao Yi.

“Lin Lie, descendant of Fuxi, greets Sorcerer Kao Yi!”

Hearing his greeting, Kao Yi’s smile vanished instantly, replaced by a cold, expressionless stare at Lin Lie.

Lin Lie’s heart tightened; he asked cautiously, “Sorcerer, have I offended you in some way?”

“...”

Kao Yi said nothing, only frowned and sighed wearily, as if her head ached.

He hadn’t offended her, certainly not.

But this young man was one of the very few people on Earth she least wished to see.

As a transcendent force based in the Himalayas, Kamar-Taj maintained close ties with the East.

Kao Yi herself had long monitored Eastern affairs—especially during the Chiyou revival incident, when she personally traveled to secretly observe Lin Lie and the others seal Chiyou.

At the time, she had held genuine fondness for Lin Lie, even considering taking him as a disciple.

Until later, when she used the Time Stone to glimpse Lin Lie’s future visits to Kamar-Taj—each vision darkening her expression further.

—This boy wasn’t a talented youth; he was a walking calamity!

Every future timeline where he entered Kamar-Taj ended in disaster.

In the worst possible future, Lin Lie, for reasons unknown, unleashed a crimson ghost-god from within himself and battled Kao Yi for hundreds of rounds atop the Himalayas.

In the end, Kao Yi sacrificed the entire Kamar-Taj to reseal the ghost-god back into Lin Lie’s body.

Even so, the crimson ghost-god’s final strike scattered its power across the globe.

Since then, a disease known as Kahan Syndrome spread worldwide, infecting countless humans with ghostly hands and plunging the entire world into irreversible chaos...

Having seen this future, Kao Yi naturally had no desire to meet Lin Lie again.

Until recently, his problem vanished all at once.

Kao Yi tried peering into the future again and found all those terrible timelines erased.

Confused and curious, she wondered why this had happened—and that’s why she decided to meet Lin Lie.

But the crimson ghost-god had vanished—and Lin Lie had brought something far more terrifying:

A great being whose future could not be glimpsed, suspected to be a Dimensional Demon God!

In fact, the moment Lin Yu and Lin Lie arrived together, she had sensed something was wrong.

But she hadn’t appeared immediately; instead, she rushed to the library and searched her collection—yet found no trace of Lin Yu whatsoever.

He appeared to be a greater, more hidden being than Dormammu or others!

In the realms of magic and occultism, secrecy was a more terrifying label than power.

Facing such an unknown entity, even Kao Yi, who wielded the Time Stone, had to tread with extreme caution.

Thinking of this, Kao Yi sighed softly.

After a moment’s thought, she raised her hand; golden sparks coalesced into a slip of paper in her fingertips, which she handed to Lin Lie.

“What’s this?”

“Sorcerer Hamil’s phone number.”

Kao Yi warned him: “He now oversees the Hong Kong Sanctum. Should you need anything in the future, contact him.”

The unspoken meaning: Kamar-Taj and the three Sanctums were not to be visited again.

Lin Lie took the paper, unsure whether he understood her implication.

To ensure Lin Lie wouldn’t trouble her again, Kao Yi added: “I now know your purpose for coming today. The New York battle is too vast to prevent—only delayable. I will not interfere prematurely.”

“As for the outcome, if you work together, you will prevail.”

“Kamar-Taj will send sorcerers to assist—no need to contact us in advance...”

So Loki’s portal truly opened in New York.

Then all was well!

Lin Lie exhaled in relief. “With your word, I’m at ease.”

Kao Yi nodded, then stepped forward to catch up with Lin Yu ahead.

Lin Lie hurried after her; his questions were answered—now only Lin Yu’s curiosity remained.

Passing the wooden staircase ahead of the hall, they entered a corridor five to six meters long.

At the corridor’s end stood a massive stone door carved with patterns; at its center was the great Vishanti Seal—the classic “ Jing ” symbol seen outside the Sanctum.

This must be the fixed teleportation gate connecting to Kamar-Taj!

Lin Yu studied the massive stone door with keen interest.

Beside him, Kao Yi stepped forward, smiling. “Sorcerer, what brings you to Earth?”

Lin Yu dismissed it lightly. “Nothing much. I sensed that in the coming decades, this place would become the epicenter of cosmic events—so I came out of curiosity.”

“I see.”

Kao Yi nodded gently, her long fingers hovering over the Vishanti Seal.

“Chii—chii—”

Golden sparks flared as the Vishanti Seal slowly rotated.

The two stone doors, fortified with powerful magic, groaned open, revealing the ancient stone chamber beyond.

“After you.”

Kao Yi turned and invited Lin Yu into Kamar-Taj.

As Lin Yu stepped through the stone door, Kao Yi added with a smile: “By the way, I haven’t yet learned your name...”

“Lin Yu.”

“A Hua Xia name?”

Kao Yi pondered, her gaze glancing unconsciously toward Lin Lie beside her.

Clearly, she assumed Lin Yu had chosen this surname due to Lin Lie’s influence.

Lin Yu noticed her misunderstanding but said nothing—because explaining would be useless.

To a being of Kao Yi’s caliber, Lin Yu, beyond his outward appearance, was not human in any way.

No matter how much he claimed to be human, she would only see it as a trivial amusement of a great being...

Inside the stone door, they entered a simple stone chamber with three stone doors carved with the Vishanti Seal, each leading to the New York, London, and Hong Kong Sanctums.

In the center of the three doors stood a stone pedestal engraved with intricate patterns, upon which rested a golden tray.

Lin Yu’s gaze immediately fixed on the golden tray.

Or more precisely, on the Eye of Agamotto resting upon it.

That was a valuable artifact!

Even without the Time Stone inside, it was a heritage relic left by the first Supreme Sorcerer, Agamotto, containing numerous powerful magics and secrets unmatched even in the Marvel world.

Lin Yu gazed at the Eye of Agamotto with keen desire.

Beside him, Kao Yi tensed subtly, stepped forward, and smiled. “Beyond the door lies Kamar-Taj’s library, housing thousands of years of collected texts—science, humanities, philosophy, magic, incantations, and forbidden occult knowledge—all available.”

“If you’re interested, I’d be honored to show you around...”

"Oh?" Lin Yu was indeed distracted, his interest piqued. "So the Daoist is so generous?"

"In Kamar-Taj, knowledge is unrestricted—only its application is limited."

As the Ancient One answered with a smile, she walked past the stone pedestal.

The Eye of Agamotto on the pedestal vanished silently as her figure obscured it; no one knew where it had been moved...

(End of Chapter)